Feeling Optimistic as the Dodgers Roll Into St. Louis

The Dodgers are two-thirds of the way through a Do or Die road trip, and so far they are…surviving. They salvaged their series against the lowly Reds with a win today, and in doing so, they may have salvaged their season.

I was born in the shadow of Dodger Stadium and immediately drenched in Dodger Blue. Chavez Ravine is my baseball cathedral, Vin Scully was the golden voice of summer all my life, and Tommy Lasorda remains the greatest Dodgers manager ever. My favorite things are coffee, beer, and the Dodgers beating the Giants. I also blog about my baseball card hobby at All Trade Bait, All the Time.

9 thoughts on “Feeling Optimistic as the Dodgers Roll Into St. Louis”

The Reds dominated the Dodgers this year and they are good at doing something the Dodgers are not, manufacturing runs. Oh, they did it today, but they usually rely on the HR way too much. The Cardinals are a much better team, with good pitching and hitters who know what to do with a bat. I am not optimistic at all. They need 3 of 4. Splitting or losing 3 of 4 is not an option. They do that, this season is toast. They would need to win all 12 of their remaining games in my estimation to get to the playoffs. Maybe having to fight for their playoff lives will light a huge fire. Best thing that came out of todays game is that maybe Grandal is heating up.

The Reds have two firecracker players, Gennett and Suarez. They should be much better than their record. Maybe if they get their pitching together, they will be contenders. Their lineup looks like the Dodger farm system’s. So many ex-prospects of ours.

It’s really impossible to predict the outcome of 3 losses to St. Louis. Sure the odds go way down for us, but the variables are still there to play out. In any case, this team is so frustrating if any of us want to see a balanced team take the field. They really fell from grace this season even if they make the playoffs. They are nowhere near what they were last season. I can’t help but get the feeling not much will change in the offseason. Even if they signed Machado, there are still so many holes in this team and the way they play. IT’s a freakin’ mess.

Only Dixon and Schebler were Dodger guys. The Dodgers traded for Peraza in the big trade that got them Wood. And all 3 of those players were in the trade that brought Montas, Johnson and Thompson, who were in turn flipped for other pieces including Rich Hill, so they were not given up for practically nothing. Hill has been in the blue for close to 3 years now. Schebler was in a crowded outfield, Dixon was a AA player when traded, and Peraza, well, that was probably a pretty big blunder on FAZ’s part. And yeah, the Dodgers have a lot of guys hitting in the .240’s or under….Taylor, Grandal, Hernandez, Dozier, Pederson, and everyone of these guys is in double figures in HR’s. Of course, Dozier hit most of his in Minnesota. Both Grandal and Taylor have struck out a ton. But Machado is only hitting .268 as a Dodger, so he is not exactly lighting up the scoreboard. He even admitted that he is not playing at a level he feels he should be playing at. All those stats prove one thing to me, the platoon system that they are using is counter-productive. You can look up and down the lineup and see flaws. A lot of all or nothing hitters who are streak hitters. 5 players on the team have over 100 K’s, Taylor, Bellinger, Kemp, Muncy, and Grandal. Over 600 wasted at bats among those 5 guys. Muncy has 32 homers, but only 64 ribbies. Only 6 guys on the team have over 50 ribbies. Up and down the lineup you see holes. This offseason is going to be pretty interesting. I see some changes coming, especially in the makeup of this team. Lots of key players are either free agents, or can opt out. Who comes back? Do they make an effort to keep Machado and at what price. Since he will be on the last year of his contract, do they pay part of that contract and move Matt Kemp? Do they trade Pederson while his value is high? What about Puig? Do they slot Verdugo in as a starter? Will Kersh walk? Do they make an effort to re-sign Grandal? Do they look for a solid backup catcher since Barnes forgot how to hit? Lots of questions. Answers forthcoming. And oh, in my opinion, unless they get seriously hot, they are not making the playoffs. Rockies are playing and winning with dramatic comebacks, and a lot of desire to win their first ever division title. I did not mention Toles in this and for a good reason, Next spring Toles will be 27, he is not considered a prospect. If he is kept at all I think he will be nothing more than a backup…too many outfielders.

That was my point MJ. For guys with that many HR’s they do not drive in a lot of runs. As for Peraza, who knows what FAZ thought of him. They traded for him, gave him a cursory look at the end of the year, and then he was gone. Makes no sense to me. The Joc-Schebler comparison is pretty right on. But Joc is loved by this organization, and that’s the reason he is still here. He has hit a little better this year at times, but I doubt he will ever be more than a .240 hitter. Schebler hit 30 homers last year, but only drove in 67 runs, that’s not great either. Schebler is a career .258 hitter, and he only hit .270 once. He hit .265 his first year in a Reds uni in 82 games. He is hitting over .270 this year, but really has only 1 full big league season under his belt. Joc is a career .227 hitter. Age wise, Schebler is a year older.

MJ
Well, you are right on target again MJ. FIre Dummy! He is the problem no matter what anybody says. He has not played Kemp in the last 2 games for no reason we know of. I think Dummy looks at numbers but he uses ones that don’t mean anything and you can tell that team chemistry is low. Lack of hustle is very evident. My thoughts on the Card series is that we would be lucky to split and will probably lose 3 of 4.